I was at my nephew's watching this UFC nonsense. A bunch of oily Brazilians and white trash humping each other. Garbage. I would pit my Black Belt in Kempo against one of these clowns any day of the week. One knife hand chop to the throat and the these Gracie characters are rendered helpless. There is no match for a traditional Karate master.

I was at my nephew's watching this UFC nonsense. A bunch of oily Brazilians and white trash humping each other. Garbage. I would pit my Black Belt in Kempo against one of these clowns any day of the week. One knife hand chop to the throat and the these Gracie characters are rendered helpless. There is no match for a traditional Karate master.

you are lost, duck under your knife hand chop grab your legs take you down sit on top of you and punch you in the face, could you explain how your karate would get you out of this situation.

Former MMA champ Lyoto Machida is a black belt in karate. He employs a lot of karate in his striking....he lost the title at 205lbs when a Brazilian named Mauricio "Shogun" Rua knocked his ass out in less than one round....

I was at my nephew's watching this UFC nonsense. A bunch of oily Brazilians and white trash humping each other. Garbage. I would pit my Black Belt in Kempo against one of these clowns any day of the week. One knife hand chop to the throat and the these Gracie characters are rendered helpless. There is no match for a traditional Karate master.

wow. so go make your way to the UFC and make millions beating up UFC champs then. god luck.

I was at my nephew's watching this UFC nonsense. A bunch of oily Brazilians and white trash humping each other. Garbage. I would pit my Black Belt in Kempo against one of these clowns any day of the week. One knife hand chop to the throat and the these Gracie characters are rendered helpless. There is no match for a traditional Karate master.

I have trained in a very traditional style of kung fu called Choy Li Fut from 1978. I fought in many open competitions and even won a few when I lived in Australia, and I spent from November 1991 - August 1992 in South East Asia where I fought in open full contact competitions in Malaysia, the Philippines and Borneo, against silat, tkd, karate, muay thai, judo/jujutsu and other kung fu fighters. We were not allowed to attack the eyes or throat, or stomp on a downed opponent. Everything else was fair game, groin included.

I really thought I'd seen it all, and I thought I knew how to fight. Then came the first UFC and I saw people being taken down and choked, arm-barred, leglocked etc, and my first thought was "It would never happen to me". But you know what? I'd had so many disappointments and revelations with pretty much every traditional style, including my own, by that stage, I went and sought out a grappler, just to see if I really could stay on my feet, and i proceeded to get my arse handed to me.

I say this with the utmost respect from my perspective of someone with 33 years training. Most traditional styles are full of people who have no idea about fighting and are so ego bound they have no desire to learn. The brazilian concept of 'vale tudo' is the best thing to happen to martial arts/martial sport in a very long time. I don't think there is a lot technically wrong with traditional martial arts, but to think they teach you all you need to know about fighting, without being modified/adjusted and trained accordingly, is naive at best and ignorant at worst.

If you really think hitting someone in the throat who is intent on hitting you back or taking you to the ground is easy, I suggest you try and do for real and see what happens. I've been there. I've tried it. It's not like the movies.

I have trained in a very traditional style of kung fu called Choy Li Fut from 1978. I fought in many open competitions and even won a few when I lived in Australia, and I spent from November 1991 - August 1992 in South East Asia where I fought in open full contact competitions in Malaysia, the Philippines and Borneo, against silat, tkd, karate, muay thai, judo/jujutsu and other kung fu fighters. We were not allowed to attack the eyes or throat, or stomp on a downed opponent. Everything else was fair game, groin included.

I really thought I'd seen it all, and I thought I knew how to fight. Then came the first UFC and I saw people being taken down and choked, arm-barred, leglocked etc, and my first thought was "It would never happen to me". But you know what? I'd had so many disappointments and revelations with pretty much every traditional style, including my own, by that stage, I went and sought out a grappler, just to see if I really could stay on my feet, and i proceeded to get my arse handed to me.

I say this with the utmost respect from my perspective of someone with 33 years training. Most traditional styles are full of people who have no idea about fighting and are so ego bound they have no desire to learn. The brazilian concept of 'vale tudo' is the best thing to happen to martial arts/martial sport in a very long time. I don't think there is a lot technically wrong with traditional martial arts, but to think they teach you all you need to know about fighting, without being modified/adjusted and trained accordingly, is naive at best and ignorant at worst.

If you really think hitting someone in the throat who is intent on hitting you back or taking you to the ground is easy, I suggest you try and do for real and see what happens. I've been there. I've tried it. It's not like the movies.

Good post.

I have trained in Hung Fa Yi Kung Fu and, no, it isn't easy to win with only strikes of a traditional type. I have worked as a doorman/bouncer for many years and can also state that MMA sporting events do not allow several key fighting choices that, when used effectively and without restraint, do much to nullify most BJJ submission/lock moves.

Factor in supreme size, strength and aggression, and a great many of these Tap-Out warriors are left with injury and smashed egos.

I have trained in Hung Fa Yi Kung Fu and, no, it isn't easy to win with only strikes of a traditional type. I have worked as a doorman/bouncer for many years and can also state that MMA sporting events do not allow several key fighting choices that, when used effectively and without restraint, do much to nullify most BJJ submission/lock moves.

Factor in supreme size, strength and aggression, and a great many of these Tap-Out warriors are left with injury and smashed egos.

If you've worked the door then you've modified what you've learned and you've had no choice but to go all out on occasion. This is 'real' reality training. I take offense at the typical traditionalist who free spars 3 nights a week thinking that in the same situation, they will perform the same way with equal effectiveness.

The mma craze is not the be all and end all of combatives - but as an avenue to pressure test the majority of your techniques and your psychological state, mma is excellent. And lets not forget - it IS a sport. That means it is a testing ground for people with skill and athletic ability to go against other people who are equally skilled and athletic,to see who can make their shit work best.

You put a traditionalist from a self defense based style in against someone like that - they should lose every.. single.. time. It's not the same thing - yet so many knuckleheads think it is.

I have spent almost my entire life studying and teaching kung fu and tai chi. I love them and will continue them until I am dead, but I am under no illusions as to what is and is not effective in the things I have learned. I have many many friends from many many traditional styles of martial arts. Some of them appreciate what mma has done for the martial arts. Some of them are still living under a rock.

I will also add this, just because I think it's worth noting. I've visited more schools than I care to think about. Many (not all) traditional martial art dojos/kwoons/dojangs had members who thought they were the shit and acted like arrogant arsewipes.

In the sportfighting clubs I've been in, I have rarely seen this attitude at all. Most people were very friendly and welcoming. This goes equally for Singapore, Germany where I now live, Australia and even Japan. The only 'traditional' place I can think of that was as welcoming as the newer hybrid schools was Thailand, but the thai boxers are pretty secure in what they do anyway.